Air conditioning apparatus



Jan. 19, 1937.

G. L. S CHUYLER AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Original Filed April 12, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I 4 a Lw w M w aw m a y 3 6 6 9 w 4" y 1-1:} i. IF?

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Jain. 19, 1937.

a. SCHUYLE R 2,068,080

AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS v Original Filed April 12, 1932 3- Sheets-Sheet 2 w: I I

I: ,1 1 06 6 k a: I 79\ Z I I I 9 l U z: {'I l INVENTOR Jan. 19, 1937. G. L, SCHUYLER AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Original Filed April 12, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I INVENTOR G'eorqe 1,5C/iuyle71 /WM@d//M TORNEYS.

Patente an. i, i3?

George L. Schuyler, Grosse Pointe Park, Mich, assignor, by mesne assignments, to ier @orporation, Highland Park, Mich, a corporation oi Delaware ipplication April 112, 1332, Serial No. Gildfl ih awed May 2, 1935 8 Clan.

apparatus which may be employed, in con-- junction with a furnace and heating system already installedin a building, to cool and to dehumidify the air in summer and to heat and to humidiiy the air in winter.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive refrigeration and air conditioning apparatus which is automatically controllable to maintain proper air temperature and humidity conditions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a system of controls for automatically operating a heating system, a refrigerating system and an air humidification apparatus in conjunction with one another and in such a manner as to maintain proper air conditions in a home or elsewhere where the apparatus is installed.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for humidifying the air in a building in the winter time and in which some of the steam or other heated fluid produced by a furnace employed in heating the building is employed in the humidifying apparatus for the purpose of increasing the temperature of the humidified air.

Another object of the invention is to provide a refrigerant evaporator having a large amount of heat exchange surface thereon which may be employed during the winter time when the evaporator is normally inoperative for cooling purposes, for supporting moisture or water sprayed thereon and for providing a large amount of wetted surface from which moisture is absorbed by the dry air passing therethrough for increasing the humidity of the air.

Another object is to provide a device of the type described having a novel arrangement of parts thereof whereby they may be contained in a. casing of minimum dimensions, thus providing a device occupying a minimum amount of space for its installation.

The above being among the objects of the present invention, the same consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and then claimed, having the above and other objects in view.

' the furnace.

(or. arr-s) In the drawings:

Figure 1 illustrates a fragmentary cross-sectional view of a house with apparatus embracing the principles of the invention installed thereinz. 5

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view through a portion of the air conditioning apparatus embraced in the structure disclosed by Fig. i;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional 10 view of, the air conditioning apparatus taken substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows thereon;

Fig, 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the air conditioning apparatus taken sub- 15,

stantially on line d-d of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows thereon;

Fig. 5 is still another fragmentary sectional view taken in a vertical plane substantially upon line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view of the apparatus illustrated by Fig. 2 and is taken substantially in the plane of line 6 -5 thereon;

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatical view of the mech- 25 anism controlling system embracing the prin-' ciples of the invention;

Fig. 8 is a. fragmentary vertical sectional view of a building employing a slightly diflerent form of apparatus embracing the principles of the 30 invention;

Referring particularly to the drawings, the numeral I6 indicates anordinary dwelling house or other building in which it is desired tomaintain predetermined air conditions. The building 5 is provided with a room or basement H which is separated-from the main room or rooms of the house by a horizontal partition or floor iii. In the basement is located a furnace l9 which is connected by conduits 2i and 22 with any num- 40 her of radiators 23 for heating the rooms of the building with steam or hot water supplied by The furnace i9 is provided with the usual smoke pipe 24 for delivering the products of combustion therefrom and may be fired 45 either with coal, by an oil burner or in any other suitable manner.

Adjacent the furnace and supported on suitable legs, such as are indicated at 26, is an air conditioning apparatus 21 comprising a casing 50 thereof is a partition 33 having a vertically disposed lower section 34 and an inclined upper section 36 each secured to the casing at the edges thereof by angle members 31. This partition provides an air inlet compartment 31' in which is centrally located an electrical motor 38 having shafts 33 and 4| projecting from opposite ends thereof and transversely of the casing. On these shafts are mounted fans 42 enclosed in casings 43 and 44 having axial openings therein through which air is drawn by the fans and discharged through outlets 41 and 48 into an air conditioning compartment 43 beyond the partition 33.

Disposed atfiacent the outlet end of the casing 28 is a baiile 42' having a vertically disposed section 43' parallel to the section 34 of the baille 33 and an angularly disposed portion 44' parallel to the angularly disposed portion 36. The sections 43' and 44' of the baffle 42 are much less extensive in height than the corresponding sections of the baiiie 33 and a vertical bafile section 41' continuing from the upper edge of the baiiie section 44 still terminates materially below the surface of the upper wall of the casing 23. Extending downwardly a short distance from the upper wall of the casing 28 is another baflle 43 between the lower edge of which and the upper edge of the baflie 41' an opening 3| is provided. The baflie sections 43' and 44' are secured rigidly to the casing 23 by angle members 52. In order to reinforce the baille members and to give rigidity to the casing 28, horizontally disposed angle members 54 are bolted at opposite ends, as is indicated at 56, to the angle members 31 and 52 supporting the baflles.

Secured between the baflle sections 33 and 44 and extending entirely across the casing 23 is a refrigerant evaporating or cooling unit 51 which is secured by bolts 58 and 53 to the edges of the angle members 31 and 52, respectively, supporting the baflie. This evaporating unit may be of any well known construction but in the present instance consists of a plurality of spaced and parallel fins 53 through which a refrigerant circulating conduit BI is sinuously wound. Connected with one end of the conduit is an expansion valve 82 in turn connected by a liquid line 63 to a refrigerant condensing unit 84, while the opposite end of the conduit is connected to the condensing unit by a suction line 33. The condensing unit 34 comprises a refrigerant compressor 31 driven through a belt 83 by an electrical motor 33 which discharges compressed refrigerant into a condenser H and from which condensed liquid flows to a storage tank or receiver 12.

In order to spray water for air humidification purposes throughout substantially the entire space beneath the evaporating unit ii there is arranged within the compartment 43 a pair of spray nozzles 13 which are disposed just below the baiile section 33 and in a region substantially midway between the opposite ends thereof. These nozzles are supplied with water from the city mains or other suitable source by a conduit 14 connected to a main supply conduit 18 extending within the casing and connected at its opposite end with the aforesaid source of sup I ply. Also connected with the conduit 16 is another conduit 11 for supplying water under pressure to a spray nozzle 13 arranged within the compartment H in such position as to spray water throughout substantially the entire extent of the evaporating unit 51. and upon the heat absorbing surfaces thereof.

Disposed beyond the heme 43' and extending substantially from top to bottom of the casing is a vertically disposed radiator 13 consisting of a plurality of pairs of rows of fins 3I disposed one above another and having sections of a continuously wound conduit or steam pipe 82 thermally contacting with the central portions of the fins in each row. The fins 3| are formed of aluminum in the present instance although any suitable material may be employed in their construction. The upper end of this conduit is cony nected, by a supply conduit 83 having a control valve 34 therein, with the steam supply conduit 2i connected to the furnace I3. The lower end of the heating coil 82 is connected by an outlet conduit 83 with the water space in the lower portion of the furnace I3.

The air outlet conduit 3i has an enlarged portion 31 connected with an outlet opening 88 in the casing 23 and the upper wall of this enlarged portion has an elongated transversely disposed opening 83 formed therein in which is inserted across the opening 38 a water eliminator 3|. This consists of a pair of parallel screens 32 between which is disposed a quantity of rock wool or other suitable material '33 through which air will flow readily but to which any free moisture in the'humldifled air will adhere. The entire eliminator is adapted to be removed from the opening 33 when desired and is provided for this purpose with a supporting ring. 84.

Both sections of the compartment 4 I inside the casing 23 are provided with water collecting pans 33 and 31 supported upon the lower surface of the casing and around the upper edges of which deflecting baflles 93 are employedfor preventing the flow of water downwardly along the walls of the compartment and beneath the pans. Outlets 33 and I3I connected with the pans are in turn connected with an outlet conduit I32 which may be employed for carrying the waste water either to a pump or other device for recirculating the water through the supply conduit 16 or to a sewer or elsewhere where such water may be disposed of.

For operating the various mechanisms embraced in the apparatus there is employed a control system I33 embracing a power line I31 in which the fan motor 38 is connected in series with an electrical thermostat I33 which is secured in thermal contact with the fins of the heater 13 to control the motor 33 in response to temperature variations in the heater. The motor 33, however, is otherwise connected in the power line I31 in series with one of the contacting elements of a three pole relay switch I33. The remaining two poles of the relay switch are employed in controlling an electrical circuit from the power line I31 through the motor 63 by which the refrigerant condensing unit 84 is operated. The solenoid I II for operating the relay switch I33 is connected to the secondary winding II2 of a transformer II3, the primary winding II4 of which is connected in the power line I31. Connected in series with the solenoid III is a thermostat II8 which is arranged inside a room of the building I3 in which it is desired to control the temperature. It is to be understood, of course, that any number of such thermostats may be employed in different rooms of the building and connected in parallel with one another so that any thermostat may provide an electrical circuit in the solenoid III.

Also connected to the secondary winding II2 I of the transformer H3 is an electrical switch or aoeaoso humidistat ill for opening and closing an electrical circuit through a solenoid operated valve I 58 for controlling the flow of water through the supply line 76. In such supply line there is also arranged a strainer its for collecting dirt or other foreign matter in the water within the line and a manually controlled valve ill for controlling the flow of water through the line otherwise than by the automatic operation of the valve H8. The humidistat iii and the solenoid valve lit are connected in series in a circuit in parallel relation to the circuit through the thermostat lit and the solenoid iii.

In operating the apparatus in the summer time, for example, for cooling the air in the building, the furnace, of course, will not be fired and the valve 825 controlling the water supply line it should be closed to prevent the fiowof water therethrough. The thermostat H6 is so adjusted as to close an electrical circuit through the solenoid ill whenever the temperature within the room in which the thermostat is located increasesbeyond a predeterminedvalue. When such event occurs and the induced electrical current from the secondary winding till flows through the solenoid ill, the relay switch use will clwe to provide an electrical circuit through the motors 6t and til. Immediately thereafter air from the building it will be circulated downwardly through the inlet conduit 29, through the casing 2d and outwardly again into the room through the outlet conduit 35. Such circulation of air will be caused by the operation of the fan 32 in response to the opera tion of the motor 38. i

As a result of the operation of the motor 69 the condensing unit t lrwill cause expansion of liquid refrigerants through the expansion valve 62 and this in turn will result in a reduction in the temperature of the evaporating unit 56, the surface of which cools the air received from the building through the supply or inlet conduit 29 and supplied again therethrough through the outlet conduit 3!. Not only is this air cooled in traversing the surface of the evaporating surface 57 but it will also be dehumidified to an appreciable extent by the condensation of moisture in the air upon the cold surfaces thereof. When the air is thus dehumidified and cooled to the desired extent, the thermostat H6 will open the electrical circuit to the solenoid ill and the operations of the fan 38 and condensing unit motor 69 will be discontinued. Thereafter such cycle of operation will be repeated when the temperature in the room becomes high enough to again operate the thermostat lit for closing the electrical circuit to the solenoid ill.

in the winter time it is not desirable to circulate air to and from the rooms of the building l6, unless theair is sufiiciently heated, because the humidification of the air materially decreases its temperature and as a consequence thereof cold drafts would result. In order to circulate only heated air through the building, the thermostat M38 is so adjusted as to close an electrical circuit to the fan motor 38 only in the event'the temperature of the heating coil i9 is high enough to heat the air to the proper temperature. There is no danger of the circuit through the motor 38 being closed by the operation of the relay loll because the building will not be hot enough to operate the thermostat H6 during the winter time, under ordinary circumstances and cer tainly not when the heating coil '79 is too cold to cause the closing of an electrical cricuit by the thermostat M8 through the motor.

The humidistat Ml is so adjusted as to close an electrical circuit through the solenoid valve H8 whenever the humidity in the building, or the amount of moisture in the air therein is less than is desirable. Under such circumstances,

and assuming the valve Hi to have been opened,

the electrical energy induced in the secondary winding ill will cause operation of the solenoid valve M8 to permit the flow of water through the nozzles 53 and it. If there is a good fire in the furnace is, or in the event an oil burner is employed, if it has cycled recently, the heating coil it will be heated by the steam oi the furnace to such an extent that the thermostat ltd will close the electrical circuit to the fan motor 38 and a circulation of air from the room, through the water sprayedfrom the nozzles it and it and then to the room again, will result. The air contacting with the water from. the nozzles l3 and i6 and with the wetted surface of the otherwise inoperative evaporating coil 76 will absorb moisture very rapidly and although the air will be cooled by such absorption of moisture it will be heated again in traversing the surface of the heating coil it.

Any moisture in suspension in the air flowing from the heating coil will he collected by the eliminator ti before the humidified air is again admitted to the room.

When the humidified air, thus applied, has diffused in the air in the room until there has been a sumcient increase in humidity to actuate the humidistat i ill, the electrical circuit through the solenoid valve i it will be opened to close the valve thereby cutting ofi the flow of water to the supply conduit 76 and the nozzles it and it.

The fans 62 thereafter will continue to operate and to circulate the air from the room across the heater l9 and will thus assist the main heating system for the building in heating theair. therein until such time as the fire in the furnace l9 becomes low enough to cool the heater I9 to such anextent as to actuate the thermostat I08. Thereafter the operation of the fans 42 will be discontinued until such time as the heater 79 becomes hot enough again to cause the closing of an electrical circuit through the thermostatic switch I08. Such closing of the circuit through the thermostat mt may occur at a time during which the humidity in the room containing the humidistat H1 is high enough to prevent closof an electrical circuit therethrough and under such circumstances the fans will merely be employed for assisting in heating the building by circulation of air across the heater l9.

In the event the furnace l9 becomes hot enough to heat the building l6 to a temperature which would cause the operation of the cooling system in the summer time, the thermostat H6 will close to cause operation of the motors 38 and t9 and the resultant refrigeration of the hot air will continue until the temperature thereof is reduced suficiently to cause the opening of the circuit throughv the thermostat. It is not desirable to have the refrigerating system thus operating in the winter time, such operation may be prevented merely by disconnecting the thermostat lit during such periods.

In the form of the invention disclosed by Fig. 8 the air conditioning apparatus 21 is employed in conjunction with what is commonly known as a hot air circulating heating system I24 which comprises a furnace I26 surrounded by an air jacket l2? having an inlet I28 at the bottom thereof which is supplied with air from a room of the building through an inlet conduit I28. The upper portion of the jacket I21 is connected to registers I32 in the rooms of the building I8 by hot air conduits such as those indicated at I33 and I34. The relative amounts of air delivered by each of these conduits is controlled by butterfly valves or dampers as indicated at I86. In the air conditioning apparatus 21 employed in conjunction with a furnace of this type the heater I9 either is not'employed or is provided with heat from a source auxiliary to the furnace I26 or independent thereof. If the heater is not employed the humidified air delivered by the apparatus is not supplied directly to the room but instead the outlet conduit therefrom is connected to one or more of the hot air conduits leading from the air jacket I2'I as is indicated at I31 and I38. The cool and humidified air thus supplied to the hot air conduits is mixed with the hot air therein prior to the delivery thereof to the rooms of the building and is heated therein to a temperature substantially equal to that of the hotair when delivered. The flow of air from the air conditioning apparatus may be controlled in its delivery to the hot air conduits by dampers I, arranged in the pipes by which the outlet conduit 8| is connected to the various ceives therefrom a part of the air delivered by the duct I28. When the heater I8 is not employed in the air humidification apparatus 21 'the thermostat I08 is employed in one of the hot air pipes leading from the furnace I28 or elsewhere thereabout where it will be responsive to the temperature of the air delivered by the furnace. When located in the conduit I38, as is illustrated by Fig. 8, the thermostat I88 will close an electrical circuit through the fan 88 only when there .is a sufllcient amount of hot air being'delivered by the conduit I38 to increase to the desired extent the temperature of humidified air delivered by the outlet conduit 8|.

Except as hereinbeiore specified the humidification apparatus disclosed by Fig. 8 is substantially identical to that disclosed by the preceding figures and the reference numerals employed elsewhere herein are therefore applied thereto. The control systems for the structure disclosed by Fig. 8 also is substantially identical to the control system previously described and the structure is likewise similarly operable.

It is desired ,to call attention to the fact that because of the particular arrangement of parts disposed within the casing 28, the casing is of minimum external dimensions which is advantageous not only from the standpoint of economy in production, but fromthe standpoint of occupying a minimum of otherwise usable space in a residence or other building.

While the structures herein disclosed constitute preferred forms and applications of the invention, it is to be understood that there are numerous modified and equivalent structures within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An air conditioning apparatus for buildings comprising a casing having a cooling unit arranged therein, means for circulating air throughout said casing and across said cooling unit, means comprising a refrigerating system for operating said cooling unit under predetermined temperature conditions, and means responsive to the humidity changes in the air for spraying water upon said cooling unit, the last mentioned means being controllable whereby to permit its use only when said refrigerating system is inoperative.

2. An air conditioning apparatus for buildings comprising a casing having end walls provided with inlet and outlet openings, a pair of baflles extending across said casing intermediately of said end walls and having a cooling unit secured therebetween, means adjacent the inlet end of said casing for discharging a blast of air through the baflle adjacent thereto and on one side of said cooling unit, the other baflie of said casing having an opening therethrough on the opposite side of said cooling unit for conveying the air thus discharged beyond said baiiie and toward the outlet end of said casing, an air heater in said casing beyond said last mentioned baiiie and adjacent said casing outlet opening, and means within said casing for spraying water therein'between' said bailles and on-opposite sides of said cooling unit.

3. An air conditioning apparatus for buildings comprising a casing having means for circulating air .therethrough, a plurality of finned tubes arranged in rows across said casing and disposed in parallel relation to the flow of air therein, a conduit' for circulating cooling fluid through some of said rows of finned tubes, a conduit for circulating heating fluid through other of said rows of finned tubes, and means "for spraying water only on those fins through which said conduit for cooling fluid extends.

4. In a building having a plurality of rooms, a hot air heating system associated therewith, said hot air heating system embracing a furnace having an 'air jacket thereabout, an inlet and an outlet conduit to and from said jacket and the rooms of said building, an air conditioning apparatus having an inlet connected to said jacket adjacent the inlet thereof, and an outlet connected with said outlet conduit from said jacket, and means for circulating air throughout said casing.

5. The combination with a building having a plurality of rooms and a heating system therein,

an air conditioning apparatus for said building,

a fan for circulating air through said air conditioning apparatus, a power line for supplying eration of a relay switch, one of the poles of saidrelay switch being arranged to open and close an electrical circuit through said motor,

and a thermostat in said air conditioning apparatus and connected in parallel with the aforesaid relay switch foradditionally controlling the circuit through said motor.

6. The combination with a building having a plurality of rooms and an air conditioning apparatus therein, said air conditioning apparatus embracing a refrigerating system and a fan for circulating air therethrough, means for electrically operating said refrigerating system and said fan, a relay switch for controlling said means,. a transformer for operating said relay switch and a thermostat arranged in said building for controlling the flow of current through said ransformer.

7. conditioning apparatus including means I5 for conducting a stream of air from a room, means for heating a portion of said stream of air and supplying it to said room, means for humidifying a difierent portion of said stream of air and combining it with 'said heated air stream portion beforedelivery to said room, means for forcing said humidified air stream portion into said heated air stream portion and ultimately into said room, and mechanism for controlling said humidified air forcing means in response to temperature changes of said heated air stream portion and adapted to render said forcing means inoperative when heated air of a predetermined minimum temperature is not available for supply to the room.

8. Air conditioning apparatus including means for conducting a. stream of air from a room, means for heating a portion of said stream of air, means for humidifying a different portion 01 said stream of air, means for converging and conducting said heated and humidified air stream portions to a room having a common outlet for discharging both heated and humidifled air thereto, means ior forcing said humidifled air stream portion through said humiditying means and conducting means, and mechanism for controlling said humidified air forcing means, said mechanism being directly responsive 10 

